That's life
by charisma26
Summary: Annabeths feelings of when she thought Percy had died in the Mount st Helens explosion. heart ache here. slight spoilers for the fourth book.


Disclaimer: yada, yada, yada, I do not own the Percy Jackson series (unfortunately)

I ran. Call it a cowardly thing to do but believe it or not I trusted Percys' judgement – if he said he had a plan I had to let him carry it out.

I pushed my invisibility cap on my head and tucked my long blonde hair behind my ears as I ran - every step further away from Percy. My feet slipped on the gravel underfoot but I pushed ahead until I began sliding down the side of the mountain and reached the entrance of the labyrinth.

I stopped and took a deep breath filling my lungs with some much needed air. I craned my neck around to look at St Helens but saw no sight of Percy. I felt my heart rate pick up as I imagined what Percy was doing. Was he fighting to the death? Was he already dead? These questions whizzed through my head at a 100MPH and caused sweat to break out on my forehead.

Focus Annabeth I chastised myself, stay calm, Percy will be alright, he's always alright. No sooner had those thoughts crossed my mind an ear splitting bang echoed from St Helens. The ground began to shake and stones fell from the mountain.

I braced myself against the entrance to stop from falling as the mountain rumbled and emanated deep roars from within I had to cover my ears.

I watched as St Helens erupted billowing a large cloud of smoke and spewing millions of gallons of lava which spilled down the sides of the mountain, but still there was no sign of Percy. The heat from the explosion hit my face like a bus and I was forced to retreat back into the labyrinth alone, crying the whole way, without my best friend by my side.

The ache in my heart never went away as I walked no matter how much I let the saltwater spill down my cheeks. I had lost my best friend all because I left him, how STUPID. Why did I leave him there alone to fight off that many monsters? Why didn't I get there sooner? Why didn't I help? The guilt swelled my heart and it came crashing down on me in waves, leaving me an emotional wreck.

I stumbled through some more corridors until I heard some banging up ahead. I sniffled and peaked around the corner and saw Hephaestus working on some queer shape of metal that was yet to me made into something.

He must have heard me approach because he turned around slowly and looked at me with sympathetic eyes which made more tears fall.

"I'm sorry for your loss" was all he said but it was enough for all the memories of that day to come back in full and hit so hard I had to catch my breath. I was lost for words. How could I reply to that? Instead I just nodded numbly, wrapping my arms around my torso – keeping myself from falling apart.

Hephaestus looked uncomfortable at my show of emotion but none the less picked up a small object off his desk and placed it on the floor. It sparked to life and transformed into another one of those metal spiders that I hated so much but I didn't have the energy to even shiver from fear.

"This will lead you back to camp. Shouldn't take too long to get there, a few hours at most." I nodded my head to show that I understood but it turned into a jerky movement as I scrunched up my face to stop from collapsing and sobbing right where I stood.

The spider skittered across the floor and out the door into the darkness that waited.

"Thank you" I muttered quietly, my voice raw and hoarse from crying. Hephaestus looked like he understood because he nodded shyly and replied "good luck demigod" before turning around and going back to his work.

I dragged my feet into the darkness, walking through the pain of the blisters on my feet because it was nothing compared to my emotional pain. Percy. That was all that I was thinking. I could imagine the pain he was in when the mountain exploded or when the Telkines cut him down. Did he blame me for leaving? Did he shout my name, pleading me to come back?

I was so caught up in my thoughts I didn't realise there was a patch of sunlight up ahead until the light blazed in my eyes, forcing me to screw them shut from the sudden movement.

I felt so relieved when I saw the entrance to camp I picked up my pace until I reached the entrance and heard the campers mulling around. But as soon as that feeling came I was washed with guilt. Percy is the one that should be here, not me. He should be walking with me not dead in an explosion.

I cried as I crawled out from the Labyrinth, hanging to the ground like a lifeline. I stumbled when I stood up and fell to my knees as emotional pain came over me. I heard shouting all around and felt people rushing over to me but I was exhausted, too exhausted to even open my eyes. Someone grabbed my shoulders, urging me to look at them. Their worried voice brought me back to my senses as I peeled my eyes open and saw Thalia kneeling on front of me, worry glistening in her electric blue eyes.

"Annabeth, Annabeth, can you hear me?" she demanded shaking my shoulders a little bit that jostled my head back and forth, spilling more tears down my cheeks.

"Thalia?" I asked weakly, trying to see through the tears. She nodded and looked relieved that I was alright, at least on the outside.

"Annabeth are you alright? Where's Percy? She asked frantically, gripping my shoulders more tightly. At the mention of his name I sobbed into my hands and I heard whispering all around me.

"Annabeth?" Thalia asked and I looked up at her through the curtain of my hair.

"He's dead Thalia. Percys' dead" I screamed out clinging to her arms. As soon as the words escaped my lips Thalia went white and stared wide eyed me, a few tears glistened in her crystal orbs as she tried to comprehend what I just said.

"What?" she asked quietly as whispers broke out. "Percys' dead?"… "Not Percy"… "What?" were a few things I heard along with people crying?

"Mount St Helens explosion… Percy told me to run, but he didn't come out. HE'S DEAD THALIA. WHY DID HE HAVE TO DIE?" I screamed out and buried myself in Thalia's arms. Her shoulders were shaking slightly as she cried for her cousin and her friend.

Chiron trotted over and he wordlessly picked me up and put me on his back before trotting up to the big house, others following silently behind him except for a few sniffles.

The next couple of weeks were rough. I hardly slept or ate, people worried for me but I brushed them off and stayed curled up In my own little cocoon in the Poseidon cabin. Chiron didn't object to this, and even if he did I would just go ahead and do it, so I stayed there until the day of his shroud burning.

That day was the worst – but yet the best day of my life.

I cried and people tried to comfort me but it didn't work. The waves on the ocean were wild and it was obviously Poseidon grieving for his only son. I stood up and watched as everyone looked sombre, even the Ares cabin.

I had started my speech, trying not to break down… and that was when I saw him. A little pale, a little thin and a little ragged, but he was there.

It was one of the best days of my life.

I had gotten my Seaweed brain back and I sure as heck wasn't going to lose him again.

THE END!

So… tell me what you guys thought. Good? Bad? Too mushy?


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